Wow. I feel like we need to issue a formal apology to all our friends in Norfolk for that savage beat down tonight.

NOR-1
SYR-6

Cedrick Desjardins allowed 1 goal on 27 shots for the victory. For those wondering, Pat Nagle has been backing up Desjardins because Riku Helenius had some family issues back in Finland that required attention. Hopefully Riku will be back for the playoffs.

Tyler Johnson, J.T. Wyman, and Mike Angelidis were the game's three stars. The freshly minted AHL MVP, Johnson, celebrated with an incredible 3 goal, 4 point effort to start off a 3 game weekend set that will be so critical for playoff position.

Brian Lee was +4 in the contest. Several members of the Bolt Prospects message board's heads just exploded after reading that. Mind you, he also took a major for slashing and got kicked out of the game. I would suspect a suspension may follow.

Two games remain in the regular season. Providence toppled Springfield tonight 5-3, which clinches the top seed in the East for Providence. However, with Springfield going down and Syracuse winning, the Crunch now move to within 2 points of the Falcons with a game in hand. The Crunch also expanded their division lead over Binghamton to 3 points after Bingo lost to Manchester tonight. Each team has 2 games left on their schedules, including the head-to-head matchup Sunday. The loss for Norfolk was a particularly bad one with the Admirals, at this moment, in a 4-way tie at 79 points for one of the last 2 playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. How deeply ironic would it be if Syracuse had to face Norfolk in the first round? That prospect looks much more remote after tonight, but it's still at least on the edge of the table right now.

So here's the schedule for Saturday: Springfield draws Adirondack (eliminated from playoff contention), Binghamton gets Hershey (one of the clubs in that 4-way tie), and Syracuse gets Worcester (eliminated from playoff contention). Syracuse can make the division elementary with a win, thereby clinching not less than the 3 seed for the playoffs. Jumping Springfield may be a harder task for the Crunch with the Falcons likely holding the tiebreak at the finish line with a 2 game lead in the regulation win column right now.

Some other accounting issues heading into the end of the regular season:
- Syracuse still leads the AHL in goals scored by 10.
- Tyler Johnson is 8th in the AHL in scoring and Brett Connolly is currently tied for 10th.
- Mark Barberio is in 6th amongst AHL defensemen in scoring.
- Johnson also leads the league in goals by 3 with Connolly tied for 4th.
- Johnson is also 6th in power play goals.
- Connolly is tied for tops in game winning goals.
- Ondrej Palat is tied for 8th in the league in helpers.
- Despite being in Tampa for about a month, Radko Gudas is still 6th in the AHL in penalty minutes.
- Gudas is also still leading the league in +/- with teammates Johnson, Palat, and J.P. Cote all tied for 3rd. Dmitry Korobov is tied for 8th.
- Barberio is 9th in the league in shots on goal.

Congratulations to Tanner Richard on his first professional point. Naturally, it was an assist. Luke Witkowski made his professional debut in the game.

This is how Syracuse has to scratch out wins with their finishers called up to Tampa Bay. It's got to be low scoring games and finding a way to get key goals at key times. Providence and Springfield won tonight, and Binghamton is going down late to Norfolk. If that holds, that will leave Syracuse 2 points behind Providence for tops in the East and 2 points clear of Binghamton for the East Division lead. Syracuse's last road game of the regular season is Tuesday against Lake Erie. They'll end with 5 straight at home, which might be edge they need to take the top spot in the East.

Riku Helenius allowed 2 goals on 27 shots for the loss. Hard to get mad at him when he got zero goal support. Former JYP mate (and really good player) Sami Vatanen with the dagger, too.

First Period
NO SCORING

Second Period
NOR Vatanen, (8) (Wilson, Smith-Pelly), 7:21

Third Period
NOR Mitchell, (10) (Smith-Pelly, Wilson), 4:52

Syracuse did outshoot Norfolk 41-27, but they're missing their best finishers with so many callups to Tampa Bay. They have to be hoping/wishing/praying for someone like Lecavalier to come off the IR quickly.

It's now a 4-way tie atop the Eastern Conference with Springfield, Providence, Syracuse, and Binghamton all tied at 87 points. Providence holds 1 game in hand on the Crunch and Springfield holds 2.

8 games remain in the regular season. 6 of those 8 contests are in Syracuse starting with a matchup against Hershey on Friday.

Riku Helenius allowed 5 goals on 30 shots for the loss. So much for getting over the .900 save percentage line. No wonder the Lightning are rumored to be trying to sweet talk Bratislava into letting Jaroslav Janus come back.

I've said it many times, a 3 goal lead in the final frame in pro hockey is supposed to be a death sentence. When you cough up a lead like that, it lingers like a bad stench for a while. When you cheat the reaper like Norfolk did, it can propel you.

The news is bad with Bingo and Providence winning tonight. The Crunch now are tied with the Bruins and tied in points (and in their division) with Binghamton. Rematch with Norfolk tomorrow night. 9 games are left in the regular season, and every single precious point matters now.

Riku Helenius allowed 1 goal on 14 shots for the loss. That's his second 1-0 loss in recent weeks, I believe. That just stinks for a goaltender.

First Period
RCH Schofield, (7) (Girgensons, Biega), 19:18

Second Period
NO SCORING

Third Period
NO SCORING

Zettler is being assisted by Martin Raymond and ex-video coach Brian Garlock. Brian Lee made his debut for the Crunch after being sent through waivers by the Lightning. Syracuse actually outshot Rochester 38-14 in the contest.

Syracuse now heads to Norfolk for a 2 game set on Friday and Saturday. They hold a scant 1 point lead on Providence in the conference with 10 games left in the regular season.